Nikola Building ZF Safety Systems into FCEV Truck

Nikola’s hydrogen fuel-cell electric truck will feature ZF’s automatic emergency braking and radar-based blind spot detection systems. ZF said this is the first application of these ZF driver-assistance technologies on a commercial vehicle for the North American market.

The Nikola hydrogen fuel-cell electric truck is now in production at its manufacturing facility in Coolidge, Arizona, and available at authorized dealerships.

Automatic Emergency Braking

ZF said OnGuardMax, the company’s most advanced automatic emergency braking system with autonomous functionality for commercial vehicles, is designed to assist drivers in recognizing and responding to possible dangerous traffic situations.

Data integration and a high-tech camera and radar suite help the system autonomously detect, classify, and react to moving and stationary objects such as pedestrians, vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles.

The system warns the driver of obstructions in the vehicle’s immediate path and, if necessary, can automatically slow the vehicle down or bring it to a full stop. This advanced object detection and autonomous braking capability further enables the new ZF system to help avoid or mitigate accidents involving pedestrians, the company said.

Blind Spot Detection

ZF said OnSideAlert is a radar-based blind spot detection (BSD) system that continuously identifies a wide variety of stationary and moving objects in a vehicle’s blind spot. This technology, according to ZF, helps prevent or mitigate side collisions.

“Safety is of paramount importance to Nikola and our customers, and the ZF products, including the company’s driver-assistance technologies, integrate well into our Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric truck platform,” said Pedro Garcia, global head of product development, Nikola.

Nikola’s hydrogen fuel-cell electric truck features a range of up to 500 miles. ZF said it is expected to be among the longest ranges of all commercially available Class 8 zero tailpipe emission trucks. Applications range from drayage and intermodal to metro-regional truckload, less-than-truckload, and certain specialized hauling use cases.